It is quite clear that most organizations do not produce good leaders. The leadership crisis is openly and widely discussed in many circles, and has been for quite some time. Nonetheless, there is still an outcry over the lack of quality leaders and those who demonstrate leadership capability. Unfortunately, the way we have structured our organizations may very well be the reason we don’t create good leaders in the first place.
Consider the typical organizational chart. It is arranged hierarchically, with a pyramidal structure to show who leads which organization, and what the reporting relationships are. For each person who has some group reporting to him or her on the organization chart, there is an element of leadership required. Each person with authority over some group expected to lead that group to meet or exceed performance objectives and provide customer deliverables.
Those who are put into leadership positions within the traditional hierarchy are not expected to lead teams. They are expected, however, to implement the decisions of those above them in the organization chart. For each and every leader on the organization chart, following is much more important than leading. When managers decide not to follow the directions given to them, they risk losing their jobs. When the same managers fail to successfully engage subordinates and drive them to high levels of achievement, the penalty is usually much less severe if one exists at all. As a result, the “leadership” ranks are filled with those who are very good at following.
Paradoxical, you say? Indeed. 
Most organizations are much like a team of horses pulling a coach. If there are 6 horses, lined up in pairs, we have horse A, B, C, D, E and F from front to back. Clearly, A is a leader because he’s demonstrated he’s very good at doing what the driver wants, so Horse A gets to walk in front and lead the other horses who are less reliable. Horse C, however, has horse E and F, and the driver, and the stagecoach behind him, so clearly, he’s achieved a level of leadership, too even though he walks in the middle. The coach driver is a leader, as he has the vision to see the entire organization and drives the team. The passenger in the coach who hired this team for transport, however, is the REAL Leader because he funded the trip, hired the crew, and determined the destination and set a deadline for reaching their objective. So, clearly, since everyone is in front of him and he’s the one who started this whole thing, he’s the leader.
Fact of the matter is, not one of these people needs to demonstrate much “leadership skill” in their position. Each of them is just doing their job, which is carrying out the orders of someone else, which is not leading. The system itself reinforces the necessary relationships for the accomplishment of work. More than exercises in leadership, what we are seeing is each individual performing a required role. If the system is working well, the capabilities of the individual will align with task to be performed (if we asked the horse to drive the stagecoach, it probably wouldn’t be long before we realized horses aren’t very good at that, for example, and we’d naturally find someone better at the job, of course).
This community of collaborators is proving itself to be a powerful force in an increasingly interconnected world. In order for such a community to function, however, elements of genuine leadership are required. Fortunately, there is an evolving organizational model that will allow true leaders to emerge, at any instant, when they are needed.
From Jon Husband at wirearchy.com:
What Is Wirearchy ?
We all know and understand hierarchy – the enduring principle of the institutions that govern us and in which we work and live. The people at the top of the institutions control the agendas and make the decisions, which are then “pushed” out and down to be executed, implemented, followed.
That’s changing.
This “wired” environment provides the conditions for a dramatic re-making of power relationships built on information and knowledge. Via networks, we are all making a transition to an environment in which championing ideas and then channeling and coordinating resources in order to achieve objectives are becoming the most effective means of increasing productivity and effectiveness.
A major shift in the ways activities are planned and managed is occurring in many spheres of human activity, from command-and-control to coordinate-and-channel. When customers have more power and employees want to communicate and be heard, the dynamics have to change.
A new organizing principle is emerging, called Wirearchy. The working definition of wirearchy is:
a dynamic two-way flow of power and authority based on information, knowledge, trust and credibility, enabled by interconnected people and technology
- A new organizing principle that requires genuine leadership, at times, from everyone, when needed.
Wirearchy is not the end of leadership. Individual leadership, as it is frequently discussed, has been elusive because the existing structures simply don’t require, actively support, or depend upon it. Leaders will emerge organically in wirearchies based on their individual attributes, forming critical nodes in the overall network as needed. People will follow these leaders because they want to, not because they have to.
As people become more interconnected, membership in organizations will become more fluid, temporary and voluntary. In such organizations, the presence of genuine leadership based on expertise and utility, rather than on systemic rigidity, will be necessary. As traditional means of communication accelerate, we must also develop new organizational models to accommodate it, which will also require new conceptions of leadership.
About the author David M. Kasprzak
I am a seasoned project and management analyst with over 14 years of experience as a trusted advisor to all levels on planning, measuring and analyzing activities. From small-scale internal projects to multi-year development efforts supporting enterprise-wide initiatives at the C-level, I “get geeky” seeing great management practices yield great outcomes. I am a fierce & vocal advocate for learning, collaborative approaches to work and pursuing Operational Excellence through challenging the status quo and fostering management innovation
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